Tailor-Made Creations,
Remembered Forever.
Lego Collectors all over the world will be all-too-familiar with that childish adrenaline rush one gets from opening one of those foil packets masking a new mini figure within, especially if it is from a series that has only just hit the shelves. Which one is inside and more importantly, have you got it already?
Maybe you didn’t have chance to surreptitiously feel the packet under the beady glare of the shop assistant, or have the funds to place the smart money on a bulk order and save yourself the hassle of a blind purchase? Some of the LEGO® Stores are happy to identify the packet’s insides for you.
The box distribution is comprised of 36 packets per container, so place your bets my fellow collectors before they start going for more than the retail price of £3.50 a packet on eBay and Facebook Marketplace.
Rumours sprang up on social media that the codes marked on the foil packets actually identified the figures within, but unfortunately that proved to be nothing more than an unfounded conspiracy theory.
‘What’s Up Doc?’
Introduced in the 1930s by Warner Bros, The Looney Tunes established an edgier counterpoint to Disney’s short-film product which featured the likes of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and rivalled their enduring success for nearly forty years with an impressive roster of characters that spilled over into a sister series – The Merrie Melodies.
Their content was wackier than Disney’s overall sweetness of tone and this was borne out in the more freewheeling house style of animation as evidenced by the likes of Tex Avery, Chuck Jones and Fritz Freleng who all went on to become cartooning legends in the process.
The chief issue facing Lego’s designers and fabricators in taking any animated character and morphing it into mini-figure form is that the unique physiognomy of such characters doesn’t always lend itself to a satisfying mini-figure representation.
Such critical flak had been levelled at their Disney ranges (71012 & 71024) and The Flintstones set (21316. So far the general consensus is that there are two examples in the Looney Tunes range which don’t quite cut the mini-figure mustard.
Bugs Bunny is the undisputed champ in the fame stakes within the Looney Tunes pantheon of animated characters. Voiced by Looney Tunes legend Mel Blanc, Bugs Bunny has arguably the most recognizable catchphrase of any animated character, let alone ones from this particular stable.
“Er, what’s up Doc” perfectly encapsulates the flippant, cynical nature of this insouciant personality with a drawl straight out of Brooklyn. He is charismatic, funny and always smarter than whoever he shares the screen with.
Bugs Bunny’s expression is way too cheerful for this blogger and doesn’t exactly cut the cynical wise-cracker figure familiar from the cartoons but the ears are spot on as is the rest of head sculpt.
Bugs’ characteristic front teeth, whiskers and elongated ears accurately replicate the animated source material, quite splendidly. The shape of the head piece benefits from dual-moulding as does the colouring which neatly separates the light bluish grey and white fur. His ears strike shapes accurate to his TV incarnation.
In the cartoon, Bugs is always seen chomping on a carrot and he gets one here but unfortunately it is a standard-issue accessory comprised of familiar elements and not a unique item. A carrot is a carrot one might argue but one adhering to more cartoonish proportions might have been more apt.
Undoubtedly the most unheard of character of the bunch is Lola Bunny, first introduced in the 1996 film ‘Space Jam’, a Roger Rabbit-like blend of live action and animation, soon to be revamped in the upcoming Space Jam: A New Legacy.
Here she wears dual-moulded trainers and sports very colourful basketball attire in yellow and lavender. Lola’s expression is pixie-like, in keeping with her exuberant, animated depiction and the figure features her blonde hair with ears tied back. The head is an outstanding design and has been expertly moulded. The figure comes with a disappointing orange component that is meant to represent a basketball but lacks any printed markings or hand grip, making display thereof rather cumbersome. A unique element here was called for. This blogger went for a transparent clear hand grip element to fix this oversight. It’s also a crying shame that neither of the two bunnies has been given a separate bunny tail piece and all we get are printed tufts of white fur which is a tad sloppy.
Along with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck is one of the more recognizable characters in the roster, having been introduced as far back as 1937 and has often been positioned as a rival to Bugs, although the rabbit’s attitude to this conflict is more irreverent.
His look here is impressive, right down to immaculately-shaped curved bill and indented nostrils. The unique head element here is an exquisite sculpt and sets the bar high for the other characters in the range.
Arguably, flippers might have been employed for the feet to perfect the overall look of the character. Daffy’s ‘Rabbit Hunting Season’ placard is a nifty accessory that looks fantastic but draws attention, for this blogger at least, to the absence of Elmer Fudd in this series. One can only hope that there will be a Series 2 as with The Simpsons and Disney ranges before it.
Porky Pig is another stalwart of the Looney Tunes pantheon, familiar to viewers from the cartoon’s signature sign-off of “That’s All Folks!” which he stutters before disappearing into the house logo and, in reference to which, we get another placard accessory for the figure to hold.
The resemblance here is extremely screen-accurate and great care has been taken with this sculpt, especially with the moulded ears and snout. Porky’s cherubic cheeks sit well with his beaming expression.
Lesser known is Porky’s partner, Petunia who made her debut in 1937. However, despite her relative obscurity, the same care and attention to detail have been afforded to the character in rendering her into a three dimensional form. Her torso and skirt authentically reflect the source material (the white bloomers are a nice touch). As with Porky, she sports a pair of trotters.
Petunia comes with a teapot and teacup as accessories, which boosts the sheer value-for-money quotient of the item.
The Road Runner character as drawn is an inherently tricky one to transpose into mini-figure form and LEGO® has achieved only partial success here.
In particular, the legs, which follow the standard mini-figure form just simply do not do justice to the source material and mark this character as a major disappointment in this guise. No wonder MOCers have taken to fashioning their own, spindlier versions of the quirky bird’s legs using alternate LEGO® pieces. Neither has the character’s stem-like neck been replicated here nor does the standard torso element resemble the source material, which is decidedly more bird-like.
However, it’s not all bad news for Road Runner: the textured wings are visually striking and the unique head and tail components are very impressive. Furthermore, the character’s crest is a detachable element which makes up for some of its other flaws. The faithful colour-schemed combination of blue and medium azure also go a long way to not making this figure a total disaster. His bowl-of-feed accessory is neat though.
His erstwhile nemesis however, is a completely different story and represents possibly the best-realised Looney Tunes character in mini-figure form. In particular, the proportions of Wile E. Coyote’s head sculpt are spot on, with perfectly executed pronounced features such as the elongated snout and vulpine ears. The look, especially his fiercely determined expression exactly matches his appearance from the cartoons.
His anvil accessory is a big letdown though: where it should have been oversized tool of destruction with a big fat ACME logo stamped on its side, instead we get a puny appendage here modelled here in four standard components that when assembled are hardly impressive. If ever there was call for a unique sculpt for an accessory, it was here. This thing doesn’t look like it would do much damage to the Road Runner, even if Wile E.’s aim were to get any better. If I were him, I’d be calling the ACME company for a refund!
Many have complained that the Tweety figure is not to scale with his feline counterpart, which is true: in mini-figure form, Tweety looks like he could go toe to toe with Sylvester but this blogger is certain that had LEGO® made this figure scale-accurate and gone for a model like the tiny Grogu that adorns the name plaque for The Child set(75318); then the outcry would have significantly dwarfed the chorus of disapproval which met Tweety’s arrival.
Still, had they gone down that route, it would have been the easiest figure to blindly identify through packet molestation. I appear to be in the minority with my opinion of Tweety (just ask my partner) and feel that it is one of the better figures in the range. The head (which follows the Porky mould) is accurately proportioned to the rest of the figure and possesses the same prominent cheeks, eyelashes and pointed beak as he does in the cartoons.
At least Tweety’s brick-built mallet, comprised of a 2×2 round brick with Technic pin-holes making its debut here in dark brown, maintains an impressive true-to-life scale with the colourful little chick. The yellow colouring of the figure is just perfect and visually pops out from the other when displayed side by side. The lack of a separate tail element is a drawback though.
“I Taught I Taw a Puddy Cat!”
No such complaints registered with Sylvester however, for he is one of the jewels in this collection, featuring as he does exquisite detailing, most evident in the fur texturing around the sides of his head to denote whiskers. The two tone colouring is nicely delineated and achieves an authentic look true to the original designs of the character, with the printing runs on both sides. A separate tail element, tipped in white fits between the legs and torso. He has been armed with a sturdy baseball bat with which to do battle.
Marvin the Martian is one of the more visually-striking mini-figures in this range and this is down to its fidelity to the animated source material. The big green helmet is modelled on Roman uniforms albeit with a striking crest that resembles a brush detached from its broom handle (too bad this element isn’t a detachable one).
This figure has the cartoon’s distinctive black head with vertically-elongated eyes and is modelled here as a unique item but it should have been disproportionately large compared to the rest of Marvin’s body to be fully recognizable from the Looney Tunes shorts. His laser gun is in lime green, which is a first for this component; and the fabric piece that imitates a Spartan skirt both contribute to the unmistakeable look of the character. The white trainers complete Marvin’s unusual style and he remains a highlight within the range.
The Tasmanian Devil or Taz possibly represents the apotheosis of Looney Tunes house style and wacky philosophy.
Great effort has been taken here to render this popular character whose raving appetite turns him into a whirling dervish of cartoonish energy, as represented here by a unique vortex disc element that practically turns into a spinner when the blue base disc reinforcement 2×2 slider brick is attached underneath. Incidentally, the disc component had been introduced before (with the Ultimate Batmobile 70917) but the swirling whirlwind pattern distinguishes it from that here.
The head is the main attraction here, the design of which perfectly captures Taz’s maniacal expression right down to his demonic eyes and ravenous, not to mention, cavernous grin. The unusual contours of his head have been expertly attended to, for this is one of the best mini-figure head pieces ever produced in the opinion of this blogger.
The dimensions are perfectly realised with the fusion of an oversized unique head component fitting over the standard torso and leg elements, showing that exaggerated animated forms can be successfully turned into mini figure characters.
The chicken drumstick and cream pie accessories are fun accoutrements but again, sorely lacking hand grip elements for display purposes.
More recycling of elements is present here with the exact same tail component for Wile E. Coyote also employed for the Tasmanian Devil. It had also been used for Rocket Racoon previous to this set.
The main thing one notices about Speedy’s mini-figure is the impressive head piece that has been designed especially for him. Featuring his trademark massive sombrero and fine detailing in his tuft of black hair sticking out from underneath, the head accurately captures his on screen appearance, even if the mouth could have benefitted from some printing. But the ears, printed whiskers and red bandana are all true to his on screen look.
The figure follows suit with the dual-moulding technique for the legs and the unique tail piece is visually striking rodent’s tail that looks all too realistic. Three wedges of cheese have been supplied with this figure, complete with Swiss-holes, but again are lacking any hand-grip pieces to aid with display. Lego, take note!
Contenders for The Next Looney Dozen?
The characters that immediately spring to the mind of this blogger are Elmer Fudd (“I’ll kill that kwazy wabbit”), Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn and pungent paramour Pepe Le Pew.
At the more obscure end of the roster for a potential Series 2 are: Michigan J. Frog, Witch Hazel, Bosco, Cecil Turtle, Miss Prissy, Melissa Duck, Henery Hawk, Claude Cat, Slowpoke Rodriguez, Colonel Shuffle, Cool Cat and Barnyard Dawg.
The characters that immediately spring to the mind of this blogger are Elmer Fudd (“I’ll kill that kwazy wabbit”), Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn and pungent paramour Pepe Le Pew.
At the more obscure end of the roster for a potential Series 2 are: Michigan J. Frog, Witch Hazel, Bosco, Cecil Turtle, Miss Prissy, Melissa Duck, Henery Hawk, Claude Cat, Slowpoke Rodriguez, Colonel Shuffle, Cool Cat and Barnyard Dawg.
This blogger and avowed Looney Tunes aficionado, for one, cannot wait to see which characters LEGO® might select for another series in this range, but given their largely successful stab at Warner Bros.’ wild and wacky coterie of animated character, albeit with varying degrees of accomplishment, that prospect seems as certain as an anvil being dropped, from a great height, on the Road Runner’s head. Meep meep!
That’s All Folks!
Let us know what you think by dropping a comment below!
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